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Bare electrical wire and leaning poles on Maui were possible cause of deadly fires

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows — those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact.Videos and images analyzed by The Associated Press confirmed those wires were among miles of line that Hawaiian Electric Company. left naked to the weather and often-thick foliage, despite a recent push by utilities in other wildfire- and hurricane-prone areas to cover up their lines or bury them.Compounding the problem is that many of the utility’s 60,000, mostly wooden power poles, which its own documents described as built to “an obsolete 1960s standard,” were leaning and near the end of their projected lifespan. They were nowhere close to meeting a 2002 national standard that key components of Hawaii’s electrical grid be able to withstand 105 mile per hour winds. A 2019 filing said it had fallen behind in...

Coroner: Toddler died in hot car parked outside South Carolina high school

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A toddler died inside a hot car on Friday after her mother forgot that she left the girl in the vehicle parked outside a South Carolina high school, according to a county coroner.Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell told The Post and Courier that he believes the 16-month-old girl died due to heat, although an autopsy will be performed. The temperature inside the car likely exceeded 100 degrees F (about 38 degrees C), the coroner said.The child’s mother works at Bishop England High School, in Charleston, and had parked her sport utility vehicle in front of the private school on Friday morning. A passerby found the child in a car seat roughly six hours later and called 911, according to the coroner.Hartwell said the child could have survived only minutes inside the car.“I definitely feel confident that it was triple digits within that car at peak time of today,” he said.Bishop England canceled its Friday night football game and classes on Monday.“We a...

Volunteer hunters join a new search for the mythical Loch Ness Monster

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

Mystery hunters converged on a Scottish lake on Saturday to look for signs of the mythical Loch Ness Monster.The Loch Ness Center said researchers would try to seek evidence of Nessie using thermal-imaging drones, infrared cameras and a hydrophone to detect underwater sounds in the lake’s murky waters. The two-day event is being billed as the biggest survey of the lake for 50 years, and includes people from around the world watching the waters remotely on webcams.Alan McKenna of the Loch Ness Center said the aim was “to inspire a new generation of Loch Ness enthusiasts.”McKenna told BBC radio the searchers were “looking for breaks in the surface and asking volunteers to record all manner of natural behavior on the loch.”“Not every ripple or wave is a beastie. Some of those can be explained, but there are handful that cannot,” he said.The Loch Ness Center is located at the former Drumnadrochit Hotel, where the modern-day Nessie legend began. In 1933, manager Aldie Mackay reported spo...

Gas prices set to soar across the GTA at midnight

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

Gas prices are set to soar overnight, climbing to one of the highest levels of the year across the GTA on Sunday. The price at the pump is set to rise four cents to 171.9 cents/litre, just two cents shy of the highest prices seen this month. It’s the third time in August prices have risen three cents or more and the fifth time prices have eclipsed the $1.70 mark. The average price of a litre of gasoline across Canada on Saturday was 164.8 cents, according to CAA. The month of August has seen some of the highest prices at the pumps this year and some experts have warned the situation is likely to get worse this fall.“$1.90 or $1.85 is very possible, and more importantly, we’re going to stay there,” Dan McTeague, President of Canadians for Affordable Energy, told CityNews earlier this month. Last June, gas prices peaked at $2.15 a litre as COVID-19 restrictions started to lift.Supply issues, the weak Canadian dollar and OPEC cutbacks on production have all been mentioned as cont...

University students struggling to find housing in Calgary and other cities

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

CALGARY — Luis Sanchez Diaz didn’t win a lottery this year for on-campus housing at the University of Calgary, but he still considers himself lucky.The international student, who’s in his fourth year of a political science degree, studied online during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 from Cuernavaca,Mexico. He moved to Calgary in fall 2021 and lived in a campus residence until he lost his spot in April. “It was a lottery, so it really didn’t matter how early you applied, if you have paid your fees, how good of a tenant you were,” said Sanchez Diaz, 24. “So, whoever got it was offered a place to live in residence and whoever didn’t was put on a wait-list.”Sanchez Diaz searched for a place to live off campus, which he said was stressful, and managed to find a small, shared apartment five minutes away from school with “pure luck.”Not everyone has been so lucky, however, as post-secondary students across the country struggle to f...

Joly heads to Slovenia, North Macedonia, Albania as Canada tries for more UN presence

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is headed to eastern Europe as part of a push to shore up Canada’s ties with countries in Russia’s backyard.Her trip to Slovenia, North Macedonia and Albania follows a commitment by members of the NATO military alliance to support democracies facing Russian meddling and misinformation.In Slovenia, Joly will take part in a panel discussion on multilateralism at the Bled Strategic Forum, an annual conference about security and development in southeastern Europe.She plans to meet with government officials from Moldova and Belarus’s opposition, with both countries facing anti-democratic forces supported by Moscow.In North Macedonia, Joly is set to meet with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski and his senior ministers to discuss trade and defence issues.In Albania, she will meet with Prime Minister Edi Rama and members of his cabinet about the rule of law and equity issues, according to a press release.Joly’s office say...

‘A protected right’: Saskatchewan family speaks out over pronoun and name changes

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

REGINA — Kiké Dueck loves gym class, especially long-distance running. The 10-year-old, who is nonbinary, says everyone at school “is really good about gender,” but knows not all parents are accepting.“There’s a few people in my school that are in the LGBTQ2S+ community but are afraid to tell their parents,” said Dueck, sitting beside their mom, Dennie Fornwald, in their Regina home.“I don’t know anybody in my class that has wanted to change their name, except for one. But for pronouns, there is one person.”The mother added, “There was one kid that said, ‘Hey, I’m not ready to use these pronouns at home yet.'”That’s one reason why Fornwald, an early-childhood educator at a public school in Regina, is concerned about Saskatchewan’s new changes requiring parental consent when children under 16 years old want to change their names or pronouns. She said because kids will need their parents to sign a cons...

FIFA suspends Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales for 90 days after World Cup final kiss

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

FIFA suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from office on Saturday while its disciplinary committee investigates his conduct at the Women’s World Cup final, which included kissing a player without her consent.FIFA said Rubiales is removed from soccer duties for 90 days “pending the disciplinary proceedings opened” against him Thursday.Rubiales refused to resign from his soccer presidency Friday at an emergency meeting of the Spanish soccer federation’s general assembly when he had been expected to leave under intense pressure from the Spanish government, women players plus soccer clubs and officials.“I won’t resign,” he declared four times in quick succession, to applause from the overwhelmingly male audience, adding he is the victim of a witch hunt by “false feminists.” FIFA has given no timetable for a ruling by its disciplinary panel. The body’s disciplinary judges can impose sanctions on individuals ranging from warnings...

2 women shot at White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

CHICAGO — Authorities are investigating reports of two women being shot during a White Sox game inside Guaranteed Rate Field Friday night, according to a police source.Police said a 42-year-old woman was shot in the leg and was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center. A 26-year-old woman suffered a graze wound and refused medical attention. The source told WGN News police are investigating reports of a shooting that occurred during Friday night's game against the Oakland A's at Guaranteed Rate Field in Armour Square.Police said it did not seem to be an active threat and the after-game concert was cancelled, with fans being told it was due to technical difficulties. Student arrested after threatening Glenbard North High School principal Currently, it is unclear what led to the shooting, how the gun got inside the stadium, and if any injuries may have occurred. No further information has been made available at this time.The investigation is ongoing.This is a developing s...

Bronny James' cardiac arrest likely caused by heart defect, family spokesperson says

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:14:15 GMT

(WJW) - LeBron "Bronny" James Jr.'s cardiac arrest was likely caused by a heart defect, a family spokesperson said Friday.The 18-year-old suffered a medical emergency during basketball practice at the University of Southern California on July 24. He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, arriving at the facility "fully conscious, neurologically intact and stable," and was discharged days later, according to a statement issued by Cedars-Sinai Medical Group’s Dr. Merije Chukumerije. James has been recovering ever since, making appearances out in public and, as reported by Entertainment Tonight, he recently joined his dad at the Drake concert in Los Angeles. How much do NBA All-Star players get paid? However, the younger James has yet to return to basketball. On Friday, ESPN insider Jeff Borzello shared a statement from a James Family spokesperson on Twitter, saying his cardiac arrest was caused by an “anatomically and functionally significant congenital heart defect.”The stateme...